The One in the Shadows
by TheRisingSage
Summary: "Who am I to disregard Fate? Well, first off…my name is Naruto "Fucking" Uzamaki!"—Experience a Naruto once locked in darkness, and only now is reaching for the light. Pairings TBD.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Fiction is fiction, ladies and gents. The Naruto-verse is not mine to claim (unless my kick-starter to buy the rights hits off! Jk).

 **CHAPTER 1:**

"I don't think you understand Demon," spat a villager with a deranged look in his eyes," you're never going to see the light of day again..."

The group of villagers behind mirrored the first, spitting insults and taunts, as well as sharp blows to the little blonde child on the ground. Uzamaki Naruto was no stranger to these public beatings—so he did the only thing that made it eventually stop.

He endured.

And all because of a misguided sorrow, which became rage directed towards a scapegoat. One who couldn't even defend himself.

He couldn't have been more than 6-years old...

The victim's age continued to run through the mind of a certain silver-haired shinobi, who at the moment watched the disturbing scene from the rooftops of Konoha.

"It's been six years already since you died, Minato-sensei," thought Kakashi as he watched on—a silent passerby in the night.

Just like misinformation is no excuse for discrimination or aggression, grief is no excuse for inaction, especially towards those that you love.

Yet as Kakashi looked on, he did not see what Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo saw at the moment—for they were stronger than him in mind, if not still in body.

One of the distant powerhouses was directing a squad of ANBU to retrieve the boy out of affection, while the other directed his ROOT-ANBU to retrieve the boy to make him a village asset. And the one silver-haired powerhouse, the one closest to the beating, left with tears in his eyes.

Kakashi did not see Naruto being beaten. All that he remembered from the event were flashes of his friends' deaths and his inability to save them. And he remembered all of this again, as he looked on at the darkening memorial stone, his eyes boring into the cold grating stone.

A stone more for the living than for the dead.

As the last rays of light faded from Konoha, the leaves surrounding the village swayed in an unsteady wind, as if to reflect Naruto's uncertain destiny. The last legacy of Senju Hashirama was an uncertain leaf, falling from the branches—dancing in an unpredictable path.

Naruto had a potential to turn the world's pain into something much more, if only he could see through the red curtain. The one dripping from his scalp and blinding his eyes.

To understand another is a small act of kindness.

To understand oneself is to empathize with all.

Not many can ever reach this level of understanding. And the little boy had the entire world against him in a quest that had yet to begin.

As the two squads of elite shinobi reached the scene of the incident, one from a grandfather and the other from a taskmaster, they found almost everything they expected to see.

The grass was stained at the tips with crimson, and various weapons were splayed across the ground. And all the villagers seemed to be dispersing from the area, most if not all walking away in drunken stumbles.

But what the shinobi did not expect was for Naruto to be gone also. Clearly, the blood was his, yet where was he in all this mess?

And one ANBU with the least control over his emotions said what everyone in the clearing was thinking.

"...Well, _fuck_."

And the two groups dispersed, not looking forward to the rage of two very different, yet similar men.

/

 **OMAKE: Why So Serious?**

"… _And_?"

The team of ROOT-ANBU looked on at their master, who at the moment stood non-threateningly with his palm outstretched and open. This was highly unusual and this sentiment ran through the minds of all of the shinobi present. Shimura Danzo was not a kind man, and he had demonstrated that throughout their harsh, yet effective training.

But Danzo was the picture of patience, as he stood there with one eyebrow raised and his palm outstretched, offering an assortment of…lollipops.

"Raspberry or Lemon? We haven't all day," urged Danzo, with a voice beginning to hold the trace of becoming irritated.

"…"

Silence loomed for a few moments, but in this unique situation, one couldn't be so sure how to feel about it. Each and every agent there knew that those sweets could not be…no… _SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED CANDY._

They were deformed into the shapes of little dead animals, which in a somewhat morbidly good craftsmanship, looked to be in agony. For fucks sakes, they looked like they were being impaled by the candy stick!

…And was that the distinct glint of a _razor blade_ in that yellow one to the right?

So, the shinobi present decided to do nothing. Yes…that seemed to be the most non-life-threatening action at the time.

Shrugging off the emotionless stares of his subordinates, Danzo dismissed them and walked back to his desk in the darkest corner of the room (If you really want to know, it's the left corner, right behind the bookshelf of meticulously relabeled titles).

And he did all this right as he popped a raspberry rabbit into his mouth…

That was enough to shock the shinobi from their positions, which they swiftly left after hearing Danzo mumble about how no one ever accepts his treats.

Sometimes, silence and recognition of one's own ignorance of the world are enough to defuse a situation.

/

 **A/N:** Just starting out on little thoughts that could really go anywhere, so wait and be surprised! Tell me what you thought!

Peace,

TheRisingSage


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2:**

It was dark all around Naruto. The darkness wasn't terribly frightening. No, it was calming—the light reminded him all too well of the flickering of the villagers' torches.

Naruto never really asked for much. Yes, there were days when he would demand another bowl of ramen from the Old Man, but it was more for the company than for the food. The Old Man always seemed to have something wise to say.

Like now, as Naruto felt around the darkness, the Old Man told him to never be afraid of it—the shadows were a shinobi's friend and lifesaver.

As Naruto felt the cool, damp soil all around him as well as below him, the Old Man was encouraging him to imagine where he was and to be realistic about it. Though being immersed in hot water and surrounded by steam did have the possibility of one being in a huge bowl of ramen broth, it was more likely that he was in the hot springs.

The darkness began to solidify as if a blueprint was rendering itself in Naruto's mind—even though the darkness never lightened for his eyes.

As far as Naruto could tell, he was in a rather deep, dug-up hole in the ground. The hole was amazingly smooth around him, wrapping him in a cylinder of moist dirt.

"It isn't the worst prison, but it is a prison nonetheless," thought Naruto rather calmly as he looked up towards a barely discernable metal crate above. Small traces of light could be seen, but the cracks of light were about as prevalent as the small little fishcakes in a ramen bowl. Those damn, tasty little things always hid under the noodles!

"Old Man! You up there? Teuchi-san! Ayame-neesan?" Naruto called out, his voice gradually losing its calm quality and becoming raggedly desperate—the same as a fawn that had lost its mother. In this case, the fawn wasn't just lost, _it was taken_.

Maybe it was because he had lost his breath after an hour of shouting, or maybe it was just because he was bored—he was still just a child after all. And because of that, Naruto found himself sitting with his back against the dirt wall, slowly drifting into an anxious slumber.

It wasn't hard to sleep in this darkness. For someone like Naruto, it was almost better this way. Maybe being alone did bring a peace of mind to someone in his situation.

 _But he wasn't alone._

Just as the darkness around Naruto faded, another impossibly bleak _nothingness_ replaced it. And for a while, Naruto felt this nothingness all around him. The only thing that kept the darkness company was the sound of a constant dripping of water.

Then he opened his eyes.

The void was surprisingly filled, as if even the nothingness loathed being lonely. Though still very empty, the immense cavern spanned farther than Naruto could see, and the ceiling vaulted to heights shrouded by the once empty nothingness.

What Naruto could not understand was why the pipes that covered the walls and hung like ivy from the unseen ceiling were so filled with grim that they made even his apartment look clean. He could not understand why he could see the beginnings of what looked like a cage from the right most corner of the cavern. And, he could not understand why there was a filthy river running through the cavern from one shrouded origin to yet another shrouded area far beyond his sight.

And neither could he understand why it was filled with _bodies…_

"This is a dark place," mumbled Naruto to himself as he mentally and physically shuttered at the cavern's contents, "I don't like it here. I need to leave as soon as I—"

 _ **Don't even cherish your own mind, jailer? Well, neither do I.**_

The voice crashed upon the walls of the cavern, causing rock and dust to fall from the ceiling. The voice was ancient and from the slight intones, Naruto could tell that the voice's creator wanted something. And taking a few steps forward, Naruto could see exactly what the gigantic fox wanted. It was the one thing that Naruto could fully understand and desire as well.

 _Freedom._

Naruto looked down at his trembling hands as the realization hit him all too hard.

He didn't ask for much, yet the villager's gave him their scorn and beatings. He wanted love and they gave him _pain_. _Naruto wanted to be free from all of the hate._

 _ **Say something puny human! Do you know whom you speak to? Do you know the many ways that I will kill you once I—"**_

"I too want to be free," stated Naruto who looked up from his opened hands and towards the cage in the corner. He didn't know the seriousness of the danger that lay in that cage, but he instinctly knew that there was no danger for him as long as he conveyed what he wanted to say next correctly.

 _ **What do you mean by that, human? Where is your cage? What pain could you have possibly fel—"**_

"The villager's hate me," interrupted Naruto as he calmly walked forward towards the ethereal cage ahead, "My parents probably left me for the same reason they hate me, yet for some _fucking_ time now, _I STILL DON'T KNOW THAT REASON!_ "

Maybe it was the anger in Naruto that helped the nine-tails understand or maybe it was the pair of cerulean eyes that showed strife beyond their years—the sky-blue dimming to grey, because the Fox felt pity bordering on sympathy at that moment for the small child in front of him.

 _ **Your parents loved you, brat.**_

Not hearing him over his own thoughts, Naruto continued his tirade.

"Do you know what it's like to live in _filth_? Or to be treated as a _demon_?" cried Naruto, his face, letting loose streams filled with years of untamed sorrow, " _Sometimes…sometimes_ ," Naruto shuttered, his face slowly losing emotion—his eyes glazing over and his voice becoming monotone, "Sometimes, I hate myself. And I can't help but feel that they're right. I am a _de_ —"

 ** _YOUR PARENTS LOVED YOU, CHILD. I KNOW A DEMON WHEN I SEE ONE, AND YOU ARE NOTHING CLOSE TO BEING ONE!_**

Through the bars of his cage, the Kyuubi stared at Naruto—their eyes locked in a passive battle of wills, one that was already ready to break and the other channeling a determination and will-power that he hadn't felt for millennia.

"It is a matter of hope," thought the Kyuubi curiously as he saw the light faintly returning to Naruto's eyes, "Even I know that one day I will be free. This child knows nothing before captivity. He doesn't even know if freedom _exists_."

 _ **You have earned my respect, kit. Hear me when I say this, those who demonize others are themselves something worse than a demon can ever be. NOW BE GONE!**_

And the world around Naruto fractured into shards of multi-colored glass.

/

" _Ha uh ha uh_ ," panted Naruto, who was once again residing in the dark pit—it was as if he had never left. The only thing that had seemed to change was the metal grate above, which was moving side to side. And whoever was moving it obviously did not have the strength to lift it up.

But eventually, with a sudden force of will, the grate moved to the side, allowing a cascade of light to pierce the darkness, consequently burning Naruto's unweathered eyes.

Dazed cerulean orbs reflected a startlingly blue sky, the likes of which would bring a melancholy mood upon all those who cared for the child.

The eyes seemed to be as old as the sky itself, yet they held neither the clarity nor serenity of the heavens above. It was a saddening sight to behold and for a moment, even the villager who had moved the grate was transfixed by the child below.

It made him question whether the child was really a monster. His thoughts trailed along the idea that maybe Hell was really created by man, just as the pit below was dug by his brother for the demon below. Was man destined to be its jailer-keepers? Was it their punishment to do so not only out of duty, but also in relish? And why did the demon seem so innocent-looking?

"But," thought the villager who tried to justify his actions along with his brother's, "Even the most vile and repulsive creatures can disguise themselves in a deceptive beauty."

The villager spoke of a general truth and had applied it to the wrong situation. Children are innocence incarnate—time had not yet taken its toll on their loving spirits as it had those who preceded them.

And with renewed vigor and purpose the villager hardened his eyes at Naruto—just as much as he hardened his heart. Then quickly rummaging through the bag next to him, he forcefully threw rotten fruits and vegetables down the pit. Just as quickly, Naruto brought up his arms to shield himself from the pelting masses.

As the torrent came to a halt, the villager smirked, "Let's see how long you survive in your own filth, _demon_. I'll come for your body later, and I _hope_ that it looks just like my son's!

And the words of the giant fox came back to Naruto.

 _ **"…those who demonize others are themselves something worse than a demon can ever be…"**_

And instead of hate, Naruto felt pity for this man. His own son would be disgusted by his actions. But Naruto did not see a demon above him—even though the maniacal look in the villager's eyes told him differently.

He saw only a flawed _man_.

And it was so much easier to forgive him because of it.

The next moment, the grate was pulled back over the skylight and the world was dark yet again. But, not completely dark. In his haste, the villager had made the grate uneven, allowing just enough light in for Naruto to adequately see around him.

And he stared at the garbage around him—apple cores, wilted cabbage, half-eaten peaches, and many others like them came into view. It was a scavenger's paradise.

And as if compelled by some inner peace, Naruto sifted through the array of leftovers, searching for the center of a pulling force. It was a force of nature, something in the blood that called to him.

Almost giving up, Naruto settled for some _edible_ lettuce, which was in its last stages of being green. Yet, by lifting the lettuce, he found an apple core that to him gave out the irresistible pull. It wasn't the rottenness of it that caught his eye, since most of the things around him were rotten too.

No, what caught his eyes were the seeds in the core, which were glowing a pale gold hue.

Taking the apple core and gently removing one of the ethereal seeds, Naruto took it to the center of the pit—its radius was about a meter—and he purposefully dug up a small portion of the dirt, placing the seed in and shrouding it in dirt.

The world stilled around him and all around Konoha, the trees swayed towards the direction of the pit without the aid of any wind.

Naruto uttered one word, as the trees bowed to him. He commanded the seed to do one thing and one thing only, " ** _Grow_**."

And the seed grew.

/

 **Omake #2: No So Dangerous Now, Are We?**

Say something puny human! Do you know whom you speak to? Do you know the many ways that I will kill you once I—"

"You're a fox in a box," interrupted Naruto with a childish gleam in his eyes—though his toothy grin, that threatened to split his face, made his eyes seem almost closed.

 _ **"…"**_

 _ **Come closer, brat! Let me claw that shit-eating grin right off your face!**_

"Fox in a box! Fox in a box! Fox in a box…" continued Naruto, who was happily running around and around the cage with his arms up and flailing in the air.

"Fuck my life," thought the Kyuubi as he face-palmed himself with one massive orange-red paw, "First, Mito. Then Kushina. And now this _child_ torments me!"

 _ **FUCKING UZAMAKI'S! Those damn seal-mast—"**_

"Don't forget about me!" exclaimed an all to familiar voice right next to the Kyuubi—in his cage to be exact.

An instant later, all nine of the Kyuubi's tails pierced into one Namikaze Minato, who stood next to the Kyuubi with the same shit-eating grin adorning Naruto's face.

With a pained expression on his face, Minato convulsed and stumbled back until he held himself up solely by one arm on a cage bar.

 _ **FINALLY! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT FOR QUITE A WHILE! FEEL DEATH YET AGAIN, NAMIKA—"**_

"Ha Ha HA!" laughed Minato as he stood up to his full regal height once again without the aid of the metal bar, "Stop being so fucking retarded! I'm already dead, dumbass! Do you see any _blood_? _Nuh Uh Uh_ , my dear, little fox in a box!

While Minato lazily wagged his index finger back and forth at the Kyuubi, the Kyuubi itself fumed and accepted its fate. He would have to endure the unendurable.

A particular fate reserved for those who fucked with Namikaze Minato.

The curse of _endless_ and _mindless_ torture.

/

 **AN:** It was quite fun writing this and I hope you guys enjoy it! Tell me what you think!

 **RedCide47:** Thanks for the first review! Glad you liked it and hope that you continue to do so!

 **QuentinTNT:** Thanks to you _two_!


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